July In Photos

I would say that you flew by, but actually I was the one doing the flying this month. As you may have noticed on Instagram, I spent most of July across the pond in Europe!! We had a fabulous time visiting Austria (picture perfect), Germany (fascinating) and Italy (delicious). And while I intentionally chose not to bring along my big camera and take a zillion photos this trip, I did snap at least a few and will be sharing some of those and restaurant recommendations in an upcoming post. So stay tuned for that.

But I’m back in KC now, and perhaps a little too excited about a month ahead with zero traveling plans on the books. I have high hopes that the month will be gloriously normal and routine. We shall see. :)

Apparently there was an underground explosion in our neighborhood, buildings were evacuated, and for about half a day it was chaos down here. But thankfully the situation was resolved and no one was hurt, so we were free to continue our month. (Whew!)

I admit I was extra glad that my loft didn’t explode because this month I made a Big Grown Up Purchase for my living room that finally arrived — a custom row of bookshelves! This photo was taken the day they arrived, and they don’t look quite so empty inside or on top now. And I’m really happy with them!

Maybe someday soon I’ll do a little house tour so that you can see the full place. But long story short, I decided to hire a local craftsman to build these for me because (a) I couldn’t find any online that were long enough for my open loft (b) I really wanted glass doors to see my books and (c) I have a lot of books to store.

The majority of my other furniture is all from either Craigslist or garage sales or Target, so this was a big deal in my book. ;)

Speaking of big deals, I was stoked that my friend Kristin and her husband Ben returned to KC for a little weekend getaway in July. Last year when they were in town during the summer, Kristin was about ready to pop with her now almost 1-yr-old cute little Lincoln. So it was fun to hang out at Bluebird and chat in person (instead of via email!) and see where life has taken us all in the course of a year. Grateful for this friend!

We also had some happy summer #neighbornightsbefore I left town…

…and one of our neighbors carved this festive treat one week to celebrate. Impressive!

Most of my month, though, was spent work-work-working like crazy to prepare to be out of the office for 2.5 weeks, and finish preparations for the trip!

I was very happy to have my bright and shiny new passport in hand for the trip. I don’t think I mentioned it on here, but I had a minor panic attack this spring when I realized that I somehow LOST MY PASSPORT. I still don’t know how that happened. I have managed to meticulously keep track of passports for about 20 years of my life. But somehow just before leaving on two international trips this summer, mine went 100% missing.

Let’s just say, hallelujah for expedited shipping. :)

I also went on a little road trip to drop this cutie off with Grandma and Grandpa in Wichita, where he had the time of his life for 3 weeks. He got to nap all day in the sunshine, run around in an enormous backyard, visit the construction site of the new house my parents are building, be the center of attention at a few parties…

…and consider life through a new pair of lenses. Well, I’m not sure what was happening here. :) (Via text from my dad.)

Meanwhile, I packed my bags — actually make that a single carry-on bag — to head to Europe!

My first layover was in Chicago. So I indulged in my favorite traveling tradition — airport Chili’s chips and salsa. Also known as the best way to begin a vacation, if you ask me. :)

(This also happened on the way home, in case you were wondering.)

Then it was back through the clouds to Frankfurt and onto Salzburg.

There, I met up with my sister (Sarah) and brother-in-law (Jeff), and we spent the next 3 days in Salzburg, and then 4 days in Munich.

More pics to come in a follow-up post…

Then Sarah and Jeff went on to Fussen, and I took a train north to meet my friends Amy (above), Tim, Christina and Frank in Berlin.

While we were there, I also got to meet up with my blogging friend Erin from TexanErin for a day, as well as Marta from What Should I Eat For Breakfast Today. And Erin graciously (and amusedly) took me on my second ALDI adventure of the trip. More on that to come too.

After Berlin, my sister and I met back up for a final 5 days in Florence, where we saw as much art as possible (she’s an art teacher) and ate as much food as possible.

And then I flew home on the 31st, and bid a fond farewell to the month of July. And took a nap. :)